Private Equity & Politics: Mitt Romney Winning The PE Primary

If different sectors of the financial industry were to hold primaries, Mitt Romney would be the clear favorite to win the private equity primary. The founder of Bain Capital who is running for the Republican nomination for president has been received far more than any other White House contender from the private equity industry, taking in $258,000 in the first quarter of 2007, according to Dan Primack at PEHub.com. The list of Romney’s donors include Steve Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group and Henry Kravis of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. And despite the amounts collected from private equity employees, Romney has hardly topped out. Only one of his donors—Charles Haneman of H.I.G. Capital—has hit the statuory maximum donation. So Romney can probably expect to collect even more from his former fellow private equity colleagues. Unlike hedge funds managers—many of whom have only recently become politically active and tend to lean toward Democrats—the top names in private equity have a history of political involvement with Republicans. Schwarzman is also a donor to John McCain’s campaign and there was talk that he might have been in the running for the top job at the Treasury department. That job eventually went to Hank Paulson, who had been running Goldman Sachs. Romney Rakes in LBO Dough [PE Hub]